June 2018 FLYPAST 127COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMOUS WWII RAID
authority and authenticity about it,”
says John. “People that were in the
RAF played a big part in making
the film, and that’s how it came to
look the way it did. Gilbert Taylor
was responsible for filming a lot of
the second unit stuff, the flying and
special effects – that photography
was based on skills he’d acquired
during the war. [Taylor went on to
have a long career in cinematography,
working on 1977’s Star Wars, among
many others – ED]
“What special effects there are in the
film hold up well considering howold it is, but the aerial photography
is real. When you see aircraft flying
at low level over the lakes, they really
are doing exactly that. When they
tried to capture footage of the aircraft
flying at just 100ft it still didn’t look
quite right, so they got even lower.
That’s just one of the reasons it looks
so amazing.”BACK TO LIFE
Bridgend-based company Dragon is
responsible for the exemplary work
on the original footage, and has also
remastered the sound. It scannedthe negative at 4K (digital cinema
standard) resolution, applying the
latest technology to create both a
High Definition (HD) and Ultra
High Definition (UHD) version.
It was not possible to ‘clean up’ all
the scenes, as some – such as those
inside aircraft – used a technique
called rear projection which is
described as being ‘baked into’
the existing picture and therefore
impossible to rejuvenate.
“We restore a lot of classic films
and it’s something we’re very
passionate about,” says John.Clockwise
from above left
Gp Capt John
Whitworth CB DSO
DFC* (right) acted
as technical advisor
on the fi lm. He had
been the commander
at Scampton during
Operation ‘Chastise’.
He’s pictured with actor
Derek Farr who played
him in the fi lm.A Lancaster at
Scampton in 1954
during the fi lming. KEY
COLLECTIONA restored image of
Richard Todd playing
Guy Gibson.Richard Todd prepares
to board the Lancaster
representing ED932 ‘AJ-
G’. Robert Shaw – who
went on play Captain
Quint in ‘Jaws’ among
many other roles – can
be seen second left.Vickers Wellington T.X
MF628 took part in
the production both as
camera ship and ‘star’.
It’s now being restored
at RAF Museum Cosford.
KEY COLLECTIONRichard Todd as Guy
Gibson, seen here with
black Labrador and one
of the bombers used in
the production.